Kaya FC Set for Explosive Visayas Derby Rematch PFL 2022 — Quotes from Coach Yu Hoshide and Fitch Arboleda; DH Cebu Match Preview Part 2

Cebu, Philippines — At 3:00 PM on Sunday, October 9, Kaya FC-Iloilo are set to face Dynamic Herb Cebu FC for the PFL Round 2 Edition of the Visayas Derby.

The last meeting between these two teams took place at a neutral site, with Iloilo coming away the victors in a 3-0 win at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. However, the rematch presents an exciting new challenge; it being a true away match in the heart of Central Visayas.

Kaya have the privilege of being the first team to be hosted in an official match at the Dynamic Herb Sports Complex. Following their afternoon training session, Coach Yu Hoshide noted the quality of the facility in the pregame press conference.

“First of all, thank you for having us here in Cebu,” Hoshide stated. “The field is really nice, as well as the facilities and locker rooms. We’re really excited for our match tomorrow.”

Fitch Arboleda was Iloilo’s player representative in the meeting, sharing a similar sentiment with the Head Coach.
“It’s really good, it’s like a brand new field. It’s our first time being here and we’ve received such a huge welcome as we prepare to play against Cebu,” remarked Arboleda. “It’s very nice, and I hope it’s maintained for years to come so we can continue to play here for our away games.”

First place in the PFL standings is a hotly contested seat at the moment, the top three teams all sitting within a point of each other— and Sunday’s result will be huge for both teams’ momentum in the title race.

“It’s been tough game after tough game against every team, and we just give our best every time to get the win and get the points,” Fitch divulged. “We focus on ourselves, not the other team. We focus on improving our team and making progress every game.”

Coach Yu was of the same mind, stating, “We couldn’t win all our games in the first round, so our target is to win all our games in this second round.”

“I know it won’t be easy to win, and it’ll be a really hard game for us tomorrow—but we will try our best,” he added. “At the end of the day, we’ll do our best to win tomorrow and it’ll be a really nice game.”

The last time the yellow and black played a match in front of the football-crazy Cebuano fans was in 2017 against Global Cebu. Over five years later, the long-anticipated return is upon us and kickoff can’t come soon enough.

“It will be an exciting game tomorrow, we will embrace the pressure as we follow Coach’s plan to try and win the game tomorrow,” Arboleda noted. “We would like to invite you all to watch, especially those in Cebu. For sure, it’ll be a tough match and it’ll be a long afternoon for us tomorrow. Keep on watching us live and supporting both teams!”

Coach Hoshide agreed and gave an impassioned call to action for tomorrow afternoon’s fixture, “Filipino football fans—it doesn’t matter if you’re Kaya fans or Cebu fans—I would like to invite you guys to watch the game live and on the PFL’s Facebook and Youtube.”